Thank you, Madame Chairperson.
We listened with great interest to Ambassador
Stoudmann’s statement, and salute him for its clarity,
specificity, and comprehensiveness.
The United States supports the position just
expressed by the European Union, and strongly believes
that the elections held in Belarus on October 15 were
not free, fair, or transparent.
We also agree with the Chairperson-in-Office’s
conclusion that "The four substantive criteria of the
international community – greater transparency of the
elections process, a climate of confidence and trust,
regular access to state-controlled electronic mass media
for opposition parties and, above all, the strengthening
of the functions of the parliament – will have to
continue to serve as the basis for further democratic
reforms leading to next year’s presidential elections in
Belarus."
Independently, both ODIHR and the European
Parliamentary Troika have concluded that these elections
failed to meet the minimum international norms for
democratic elections.
For these reasons, we strongly believe these
"elections" are not worthy of the name. True elections
require more than people casting ballots on election
day. They require unfettered campaigns with a free
exchange of political views. They require transparent
and credible tabulations of results. And they require an
atmosphere of confidence and trust where candidates can
express themselves openly – as opposed to the existing
climate of pervasive fear, where political opponents
disappear at night never to be seen again.
The United States does not accept the results of
these so-called "elections" as valid, and will continue
to recognize the democratically-elected 13th
Supreme Soviet, led by Chairman Semyon Sharetsky, as the
legitimate parliament of Belarus.
Like Ambassador Stoudmann, we take exception to the
accusations that the OSCE/ODIHR report displayed a "lack
of objectivity", "ignorance", and was of "biased and
prejudged character," as claimed in the press statement
issued Tuesday by the Belarus Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
Moreover, we consider outrageous the reported efforts
of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to manipulate
the findings of independent observers in Belarus. In
particular, the CEC’s distribution of OSCE/ODIHR
reporting forms, without the authorization of either
body, as well as the Belarusian government’s
presentation of a pre-written statement praising the
elections for these observers to sign, run entirely
contrary to the basic principles of impartial
observation and misrepresents OSCE and ODIHR’s
position.
Confronted with facts like these, I leave it to each
of us to judge where the "lack of objectivity" and
"prejudged character" really lie.
Thank you.
